My heart sings to see you
by marybearsy
Summary: Mary and Rose live ordinary lives when by chance they are transported into middle earth. With the help of Thorin and his mates it's not hard to stay alive, but they are bound to their home, aren't they?
1. Chapter one

A/N: So, first chapter. Sapphirex3 has written the things written from Rose's PoV, I (marybearsy) wrote the parts from Mary's PoV. Sorry if this is not very good, this is the first story on here for both of us. Please leave a review, we'd appreciate that :) Enjoy!

* * *

Kili, with his sharp senses, is the first to hear the voices. He alerts Fili to them, which draws Thorin's attention.

'Are you trying to threaten me girlie?' A man's voice, followed by several more men laughing.  
'Actually, I am. Except I can see it's not really working.' A young woman, clearly nervous.  
'Rose..' Another girl, this one nothing but frightened.  
From what they hear everyone can mostly guess what is going on –well, except Bilbo- and Thorin decides that they will take a look. Because of the thick foliage they have to get quite close before they can actually see what is going on There are three human men and two girls, wearing clothes none of the company has ever seen the like of before and they don't look like any race known in Middle Earth. They are about the same height as the dwarves yet don't have the same beard or characteristic build. Seeing the situation Thorin decides to think about that later.

'What are you doing?' His question is directed to the human who seems to be the leader, since he pointing a sword at the two girls. He sounds calm but the threat is clearly audible.  
The man quickly sheaths his sword, clearly not expecting anyone else to show up on this deserted road. 'Just having a bit of fun. Do you mind?'  
'Actually I do, yes.' The prince moves his hand from the reins to the handle of his sword, making sure the man notices the movement. He gulps and moves back slightly. The two girls take this opportunity to move away from the threat. 'Kili.' He gestures at the two girls and his nephew understands, as always.  
He jumps down from his pony and walks towards the two girls, meanwhile keeping an eye on the humans. 'Are you alright?' He specifically asks the blonde girl, since she seems the most frightened. The other, taller girl looks more on guard but also shocked. She is still holding the other girl's wrist.  
'Yes.. Sort of. I'm Mary, by the way.' Her voice is trembling but she seems to be slightly more relaxed now.  
'Mary? That's an interesting name.' He smiles at her, then turns to the other girl. 'And who are you?'  
She hesitates a bit before answering. 'Rose. And you are Kili, am I right?' She seems to instantly regret the fact that she said something.  
Kili is instantly on guard. He doesn't know her and yet she knows his name. 'How do you know that', he demands and she tenses.

'Now now, not so hasty.'

* * *

_Rose's PoV_

I look up sharply. I know that voice, just like I recognise Kili and Thorin and the rest of the company. Mary and I have talked about where we could have ended up and Middle Earth has crossed our mind, since we disappeared during the movie, but now it is pretty much confirmed. Great timing though. I look at Gandalf and thank him silently for stepping in. Since he's a wizard after all, I'm sure he can wrap his mind around what I think has to be dimensional travel. I sure hope we can convince them to take us with them, 'cause we'll never be able to survive on our own. I glance at Mary and her bare feet. She had to leave her heels behind because in this terrain it quickly became too hard to walk in them.  
I resist the urge to back away when Gandalf comes closer and touches the fabric of my jumper. Somehow this new and violent environment doesn't faze me that much, maybe because of the time I've spent playing Skyrim, but it has increased my personal space about tenfold. I don't like letting people get close to me, since that would leave me too vulnerable. Except for Mary, since I trust her with my life and I want to protect her, which is not that easy from a distance. And yet I let that man get close, ugh. I give myself a moment to scold me, before dragging my attention back to the current situation. 'It seems you come from far away, ladies. Do you mind telling us from where?'  
I share a look with Mary and she squeezes my hand slightly. _You tell it._ I notice that by now the whole company has dismounted and gathered around us. Their expressions vary from confused –Bilbo- to outright threatening –Dwalin-. I swallow. Here goes nothing. 'We don't really understand ourselves, actually. Kili', I turn to look at him, 'you asked why I know your name. That is because in our world this', I gesture to the company, 'is all part of a story, a book.' Shocked gasps and murmurs all through the group. Even Thorin seems taken aback, a rare sight which I store away in the back of my mind. Only Gandalf doesn't seem too surprised, but as I decided earlier, he's a wizard after all.  
'So you mean to say you've been transported into a story?' His voice quiets the dwarves down and now all eyes are on us again.  
I nod. 'We don't really understand how, but it's the only logical explanation.' My voice trails off and I squeeze Mary's hand slightly, taking comfort in her presence. For what seems like eternity we wait for the company's reaction. They are silent at first and I can almost feel the storm gathering. It arrives in shouts of disbelief and dwarves trying to be heard. I flinch from the sudden wall of sound until Thorin finally seems back in action. 'Quiet.' Though he doesn't raise his voice the tone full of authority makes all the other dwarves listen and I lock that into my memory, also. My composure threatens to slip when he directs his full attention at me. 'How long have you been here?'  
'About half a day, more or less.' I'm proud of myself when my voice doesn't tremble.  
'You said this is written down in a book?' Gandalf asks and I nod. He seems urgent and at his next words I understand why. 'Do you know how that book ends?'  
If I told them about what was going to happen it would alter the course of the story, with unpredictable consequences. My eyes cloud over as I think about all the bad things they have yet to go through because of things they don't know, but I do. And I can't tell them anything. 'I know part of it. Your whole journey is divided into three parts, and I only know the first. I won't tell you anything about it though, because knowing your future would cause it to change and that would probably bad.'  
He nods, satisfied with my answer. Then he turns to Thorin. 'So, what about it? Are we going to leave these two ladies to their fate? The least we can do is take them with us to the next town.'  
For a very tense moment he only regards us critically. We don't look much, still in regular clothes, with no equipment whatsoever and I'm scared of what he's going to say. Though a rational part of my mind tells me that this is the honourable Thorin Oakenshield, who won't just leave two women out in the wilds, the emotional part of my mind is not so easily convinced. That's why it's an immense relief when he nods. 'Get them a pony to share and we'll escort them to the next town. That is as far as we will take you.' The last scowl is directed at us but I don't mind. We did it. I smile broadly at Mary and she smiles back. We're safe, at least for now.

* * *

_Rose's PoV_

'So what really happened before you came here?' Bofur asks.  
What really happened? I wonder if he's doubting us, but then I see the honest smile on his face and decide that he is just curious. Well, I guess it's only normal, since I was pretty brief in telling them. I stretch my legs a little closer to the fire –the evenings are cold here- and think for a moment. What can I tell them? We were watching a movie, but it would be a hassle to explain how a movie works. Then again, we have the time. 'We were watching a movie.' I wait until the disturbance my words cause has quieted down a bit before continuing. 'A movie is basically a collection of pictures, shown after one another. If you draw a dozen pictures of a person moving, each a little different from the last, and you show them in succession quickly enough, it will seem as if the person in the picture really is moving. That is a movie, only with a lot more pictures.'  
It is quiet for a moment and I share a look with Mary. I think I pulled that off quite well. I hope.  
'And the movie was about us?' This time Kili is the one to speak up. He sounds like a kid in a candy shop.  
'Yes.' I shift again and let them talk with one another about the wonder of movies –I chuckle mentally-. They're so innocent, in a way. 'I wonder how they would react if transported to our world', I say to Mary and she laughs.  
'That would be hilarious.'  
'It would be the most awesome thing ever, more like it.' I grin and relax, letting my mind slip back a day, to when things were still normal.'This is going to be so much fun.' I grinned and shifted my weight from foot to foot. Mary just rolled her eyes at me, though I could see she was just as excited as I was. I'd already seen this movie once and it's fucking awesome. Like, I-have-lost-the-ability-to-can awesome. Yes. That awesome. We noticed more people going up the stairs that had a sign pointing to room six –where we had to go- so we followed them.  
'I hate these stairs', Mary shivered and I agreed. It's not funny to be able to see through stairs. It's just plain creepy.  
I took a look at the movie posters on the walls and sighed. 'Why are there so many good movies coming out. It's mean for my wallet.'  
Mary didn't get a chance to reply since we were at the front of the queue and an employee stepped up to take our ticket and lead us to our seats. We had a good spot, all the way back and to the right of the left row –so generally near the middle-. I shrugged of my jacket and dropped it on the floor, revealing my standard black Targaryen jumper and dark blue jeans. And sneakers, of course. Mary on the other hand was wearing a loose-fitting salmon-coloured tanktop with a purple, fake leather jacket over it and black skinnies. Her gray stilettos gave her a bit extra height. I took a moment's pride in still being taller than her. People were staring at her bear-hat, but neither of us minded. People stared all the time. It is just what they do, I guessed.  
It didn't take long before the lights dimmed and we were told to put on our 3D-glasses. I felt the anticipation curling in my stomach and I was feeling almost giddy when the title screen showed. Mary shut me up efficiently –she is used to me, after all- and I leaned back slightly, settling in for three hours worth of awesomeness. I almost fangirl squealed when Kili appeared for the first time then again when Thorin turned up with all his majestic awesomeness. Too bad they weren't real. I managed to contain myself though, because that would have been way too embarrassing.  
I also resisted the urge to sing along softly to Misty Mountains Cold, which gave me goosebumps. Again. This movie just made me feel too many things. Which could be either positive or negative. Bilbo was kind of being an ass at the beginning of the movie though. You can't fight it, so just go along with the flow. But I guessed that you couldn't do things that way while being a character. They sure did have it hard. I frowned, feeling a big headache coming up. Please not now. The headache didn't listen and only increased and I groaned softly, my fingers digging into the armrests as my vision started to swim. I looked at Mary beside me and wanted to say something but found that I couldn't. I faintly noticed her looking to be in a similar state and then everything went black.

* * *

_Mary's PoV_

I wake up from weird noises. I look around, but nobody is awake. Kili was supposed to be on guard, but is nowhere to be found. Without a second of doubt I get up. Rose will be mad at me, but who cares. Fuck the world. As I look through the trees I find Kili in a clearing. But he's not alone. And there are weapons involved. I sneak up on them to get a better view. Kili and the other men (there are two, and I don't know them) are circling, Kili with his bow pulled tense and the men with swords. I know I have to do something, he can't fight two men, as good a fighter he may be. My mind works very quick (I will thank myself for that later) and I come up with a plan. I ignore my initial nerves and strip down. Then, I enter the clearing.  
"Stop." I say calmly (I wonder how my voice is so steady). The men can tell by the solemn look on my face that I am dangerous. Well, I'm supposed to be dangerous, and they're supposed to believe that. "I am Aletheia, goddess of truth."  
I see their eyes widening as they stare at me. "What have we done wrong?"  
"Solving something with violence is not very truthfull. I will forgive you this once, but only if I never have to interfere again."  
They nod anxiously and stumble back.  
"Get out!" I say.  
That does the trick, and they go running back, letting out yelps. I smile. As I turn around to go back to my clothes I briefly find Kili's eyes, and they express nothing but astonishment. I quickly dress and walk back to camp. There, Kili is allready waiting by the fire. I sit down next to him.  
"Quick thinking." He says.  
"How did you get there anyway?"  
"They came near camp, so I lured them away. I didn't really think about the fact they were with two."  
It's silent for a while as we both stare into the flames.  
"Thank you. Now I owe you. Why did you do it?"  
"Because if you died, and I could have prevented it, I would have never forgiven myself." And you're fucking handsome and your accent is pure earsex, I add in my mind.  
"You can sleep now." He says, pulling me into his arms. I silently celebrate my triumph.

* * *

_Mary's PoV_

I'm very tired, but I can't sleep. I slip out of bed, onto the cold wooden floor. We arrived in town today, so our future is not certain anymore. Maybe a walk through the tavern will help clear my mind. I sneak out of the room, careful not to wake up Rose. Now familiar voices come from downstairs, and I notice Gandalf, Thorin, Kili, Fili and Balin are still up. At first I think about joining them, but hearing both my and Rose's names stops me. I wait around a corner, listening to their conversation.  
"Taking that girl will only cost us precious time." Thorin sounds slightly annoyed.  
"She saved my life! If she doesn't come, how can we know she's safe?"  
"Kili, she is none of your concern. You never even told us what she did exactly, and she won't talk about it either. How do we know this is the truth?"  
"You have to trust me on that. We are supposed to trust you. We don't know what lies ahead of us, Rose does. We have to take her, at least. And she's not coming without Mary."  
"Then we leave them both. Mary has nothing to offer to us, and Rose does not compensate." Chairs shove back, and people get up. I take my chance and come out.  
"Please don't leave us. I get you, you don't want me holding you back, slowing you down. I don't care if you want to leave me here, I'm used to not being wanted. But you have to take Rose. I know the chance we get back home is tiny. She wants to help you. She can help you, she knows what will happen, she has seen what your mistakes will be, you can correct them. If there was any way you could take her, and leave me behind, I would be the first to agree, but there isn't. It's not just a matter of holding you back, Thorin. We both know this is just an excuse. You don't want to trust anybody, because when your grandfather trusted Thranduil he let him down. But somehow, you will have to get over that. You can't do this without help from others. You're not only dooming yourself, you're also dooming all the others. I don't care what you do, but I care that the others survive. They trust you. You can't let them down. I didn't save Kili for nothing." My hands shake during the speech, knowing this could go one of two ways. A. Thorin gets mad or b. He agrees. Oh, or he just ignores I said anything.  
Five pairs of eyes stare at me. I turn around and quickly make my way back to our room. When I come in, Rose is awake.  
"What did you do?"  
"Defy authority." I say and get back in bed with a nervous smile.

* * *

_Rose's PoV_

I dress slowly, still wondering about what Mary said last night. "Defy authority." Knowing her, she probably did something admirably stupid. 'Are you alright?'  
'Just nervous.'  
'About what?' I prompt. I figure it has something to do with us going with the company and I would like to be prepared before facing them.  
'You'll see in just a moment.'  
'Mean', I mutter but I don't ask anything else. If she could, she would have told me by now. Instead I finish dressing and get up, balancing on the balls of my feet. 'Are you ready?' I get a nod as answer and open the door of our little room, stepping out into the hallway. Fortunately the inn isn't that busy, since I'm still getting used to this new, lower point of view. It's kind of scary, being so much smaller than everybody else, especially since I used to be taller than average.  
We make it to the common room safely and join the company in breakfast. I sit down next to Bilbo, since he is the neatest –and calmest- eater. I almost laugh at the exasperated look on his face when he looks at the dwarves. I don't really mind, since it's their business and it's pretty fun to watch. That content feeling quickly dissipates when Thorin draws the attention to himself. I grasp Mary's hand and squeeze it. I'm not an idiot, I know that the rational decision for them is to leave Mary behind and take me with them, but I'm not letting that happen. That's why I feel a mix of surprise and relief at the decision, spiced with a whiff of suspicion.  
'We have decided to you are to join the Company, on the condition that you learn how to fight and make yourself useful.' He doesn't say anything else and it looks like he doesn't expect us to answer either. Mary looks incredibly relieved and also a bit smug and I remind myself to ask her again about what happened last night. For now, I just smile, settle down and start on my breakfast.

He decided to keep it short to save his pride from being convinced by a little girl

* * *

_Rose's PoV_

I distantly listen to the chatter of Kili and Mary in front of me. They're getting along well –since Mary almost got herself killed a few times he's practically been glued to her side- and though I'm really happy for her I have to admit I'm a bit jealous. I draw my mind away from those dangerous thoughts immediately. I have no right to whine, seeing as how up till now I have been more successful in making myself useful to the group. All the hours put into playing Skyrim finally paid off. The weight of the two short swords on my back is familiar by now, comforting even. Knowing that they are there and that I can use them makes me feel safe, which makes all this a lot easier to bear.  
'What are you humming?' Bilbo asks. He is riding next to me, probably since our culture is more like his than the dwarves' and we have some quite interesting discussions. I've learned a lot more about this world from him and sometimes Gandalf, if I happen to ride next to him. He usually rides next to Thorin though, and I actually don't dare go near him. I would love to, really, but I'm not that good with intimidating people and the dwarf prince has quite a presence.  
'I was humming?' I'm honestly surprised, since I was so lost in thought I hadn't even noticed. Then again, that sort of thing happens more often.  
'Yes, you were. It sounded quite nice, actually.'  
I retrace my thoughts to before he asked the question and find that I was, indeed, humming something. Let her go, to be specific, from Passenger. I smile at his compliment. 'Thank you. Where I come from we have a lot of different music, and I listened to it a lot. I really like music, the way it can make you feel so many different things.' I usually find it hard to clearly voice my feelings and opinions but with Bilbo not so much. Maybe because he's also out of his element here. Anyway.  
'Could you sing me something?'  
Wait. What? I had not expected that question. Maybe I should have. There is an awkward pause before my eyes fall on Mary and I smile. 'I'll ask Mary, since she can sing really well.' I click my tongue and spur my pony to a trot until I'm equal with the two lovebirds. 'Sorry if I'm disturbing your happy moment, but Bilbo wants to hear you sing, Mary.' Not his exact wording, but it'll do, and it's worth the look on their faces as Bilbo splutters to negate what I said while Kili gets a jealous look on his face. Mary just looks surprised, then smiles. 'Sure. What song?'  
'Well, we were talking about Let her go, so maybe that one?' I give her space so she can let her pony fall back slightly until next to Bilbo.  
She is silent for a moment before she starts singing. 'Well you only need the light when it's burning low. Only miss the sun when it starts to snow.'  
I smile. It's been too long since I've heard her sing. Even before we came here, I mean. I join in on the next two lines, though softly. I'm not that confident of my voice, though I do like singing. I prefer the privacy of being home alone. 'Only know you love her when you let her go. Only know you've been high when you're feeling low.' I get so into the feeling that I only notice when it's finished that nearly everyone in the company is watching us now. I feel a blush creeping up my cheeks and duck my head. Though I should have expected that, again I didn't. Mary doesn't seem fazed by the attention and she laughs at my expression.  
'Rose, dear, you should have expected that.'  
I run a hand through my hair, part in annoyance, part in exasperation. 'Oh shut it. Bitch.'  
'Jerk.'  
'Assbut.'  
'Idjit.'  
The others just watch us with amused glances while we laugh at each other. It's not the first time they've heard the row of insults pass between us and they're pretty used to it by now. 'Now then, I'll leave you and loverboy over here to your business. Sorry to interrupt.' I laugh out loud now because of the look on Mary's face. It's a cross between murderous and wanting to crawl into a hole and disappear. Okay, maybe that was slightly mean. Judging by the expression on Kili's face he takes it mostly as a joke though, so no harm done there. I switch places with Mary again and we're back at the beginning.  
'So, what did you think?' I ask Bilbo and he smiles.  
'It was very nice.'  
I grin and stretch my back, letting go of the reins for a moment to stretch my arms as well. 'That's great.' The conversation between us dies out again and I take this time to look up front. I know what is coming and spoiler alert I hate not being able to warn them even in the slightest. I'll just have to make up for it by covering for them as much as I can.

* * *

Hope you liked it :) Please leave a review and follow, there's more to come, promise!


	2. Chapter two

A/N YES PEOPLE WE'RE BACK. I'm really sorry it took us this long. I can only publish on my laptop, and I wasn't on that for a while. Sorry if this is worse than the last chapter, I didn't triple check this. As a result, there will be spelling errors. Enjoy and leave a review, pretty pretty please?

* * *

_Mary's PoV _

Rose and I sit by the fire, warming ourselves. We are both not really used to the cold nights yet. Balin sits on a rock and tells us tales of Erebor. He is an amazing storyteller, an amazing person in whole. After a while he asks us what our lives were like.  
"Very different. We have electricity, so basically everything is automatical. We never have food shortages, or anything shortages. To pass time we read, or we play games. It's nothing like this." Rose says with a tone of sadness in her voice. Both of us miss our homes, but Rose definitely enjoys this more. She's a brilliant fighter, as for me... Not so much.  
A high-pitched wailing turns our heads to Thorin. His silhouette is dark against the setting sun.  
"What is that?" Bilbo asks. He's nearly as paranoid as me.  
"Orcs. Foul creatures, great killers. It's best if we stay away from them." He replies in a grave voice.  
Balin explains us what happened to Thorin's father and grandfather. I can't help but notice the pity and concern in Rose's eyes. That's all she's shown since she first laid eyes on him. She knows things we do not. She opens her mouth to say something, but Gandalf cuts her off.  
"You can't change the future, lady. Some things are better left unspoken."  
All of us are now immensely interested in what she has to say. She remains silent, and turns her head. I could swear I see tears welling up in her eyes.  
"Mary." Kili summons me, tapping on a spot on the ground beside him. I gratefully curl up next to him as he pulls a blanket over me. "Try to get some sleep."  
I close my eyes and am quickly pulled into a deep sleep. I'm terrorized by awful nightmares of Orcs. When I open my eyes again, it's completely dark. The fire has died out and is now a pile of smouldering ash. Ori is the only one still awake. Rose is asleep beside the fire, somebody has covered her in a blanket. Ori hums a familiar tune. I close my eyes and listen to the pure determination. He might be small and, frankly, stupid, but that doesn't stop him from serving Thorin. I admire him for finding the courage to leave his house and comfortable life behind and go on this quest.  
"Do you miss home?" He asks me.  
"I really don't know. I don't know if it makes sense to want to go there again. Nobody knows how we will get there."  
"We'll find a way."  
I smile, knowing he is one of the few who want to help us.  
"Thorin would rather throw us off a cliff right here, most of the others too. At least Rose is sort of usefull, I can barely hold a sword. At least I had some skill back home."  
"You have courage. You could've stayed with the men in that town, but you didn't. While you knew what we were going to encounter."  
"Courage alone doesn't get you anywhere."  
"It helps."  
That's where our conversation ends. Multiple dwarves are waking up. I stare in the distance, and decide right then and there that I will be a serious help to these folks, rather than a burden.

* * *

_Rose's PoV _

I shift slightly so my shoulder is touching Mary's. We are sitting near the fire and though I'm not necessarily cold I miss being able to actually hug people. I wrap my arms around my knees and lean against her a little bit more, putting my head on her shoulder. That way I can see when the artificial light of her mobile phone gives out and the screen turns black. She sighs and puts it away, although reluctant.  
'Your battery's dead?' I ask and she nods.  
'What about yours?'  
'Last time I checked I still had about half left. One moment.'  
I take my phone out of my pocket and turn it on. While I wait for the white opening screen to pass I run my fingers along the smooth plastic. Even though this is pretty awesome and all, I miss our world and knowing that I still have something from over there is reassuring. Of course we kept our clothes as well, but that's different, though I won't be able to say why. It just is. I click through a few menu's, aware of some of the dwarves watching and I chuckle slightly when I remember the first time we showed them our mobiles. You can say it was a grand chaos. Of course we had told them about electricity before, but it was their first time seeing anything running on it and they could barely believe it. It was quite hilarious, actually. I pause at my pictures. The first one is a group picture Mary insisted on taking, so she's not in it. I took the second one, so she's in there. I smile at some of the others, all of one of the dwarves. There are also quite some blurred ones, but I haven't deleted them yet. I don't know if –if we get back- they will still be here, but if they are I want them all, as evidence of sorts.  
'Let's go to sleep', Mary suggests and I nod, turning off my phone and putting it safely back in my pocket before settling down again. In the almost complete silence I can hear the crackling of the fire and take comfort in it. We'll make it through.

* * *

_Mary's PoV _

My hands quickly find pieces of rock as I climb up, getting out of the animal's range. I scream for help, but I am probably out of earshot. I was searching for water when I encountered this... Well, I can't call it anything more than a thing. I wish Rose was here, she would have known what to do, but she's still asleep. The sun is shining tiny rays over middle-earth. Just my luck. I look down, far up on the rock. I didn't realize how far up I climbed. The thing is meters below me, barking as it jumps up. I'm dead terrified really. I don't know how I got up here, then how can I get down? I hear my name in the distance, though I can't make out who the voices belong to.  
"I'm here! Rose!" I scream. I hear a faint answer, but I'm not sure of anything.  
The sudden rush of adrenaline has made me dizzy and I don't know how much longer I can stay up. I notice a deep gash in my arm, probably made by a sharp rock. Blood drips down, driving the thing below me crazy. I try to get some more space between me and the beast, still climbing up, ignoring the stabbing pain in my arm.  
"Mary!"  
The screams are louder now, as they probably noticed I was gone and have but the loud barks to go on. I'm suddenly overcome by a deep fear. Rose may be a good fighter in video games, but that doesn't say she knows how to handle a real sword, how to shoot real arrows. And the dwarves... They are about as tall as the beast is high, and it's a very fair bit stronger. My fear is proven irrational as a sword, followed by a girl, comes up and severes the beast's head from his body.  
"Mary!" She screams.  
I climb down, not nearly as swiftly as I climbed up. I notice my leather jacket is torn, and that does it. I burst into tears, clutching my injured arm to my chest. Rose falls against the wall, now also crying.  
"What the fuck was that?" I ask, voice shaky.  
"Warg." She whispers. Several people come running around the corner at the same time. Most of them stop by the corpse, but Kili ignores it and quickly pulls me into his arms. I let him do it, emptying myself of tears. He only lets go of me when he notices the drops of blood falling down on the floor.  
"Are you allright?" He asks, his voice not steadier than Rose's or mine.  
"Alive." I reply, unable to say anything more.  
"Let's get you back."

* * *

Rose's PoV

I keep my eyes strictly focused on Fili, trying to read his attacks. He is faster than I am, so the only way I can keep up is thinking, planning ahead. If he moves like this, what attack will follow. Dodge, block or counter. How will he react. With the adrenaline rushing through my veins thinking fast is not the problem, making my body keep up is. I can see Fili's left sword coming from above and lift my right to block it. Now that his side is open, I slash my left at him. Too slow however, since he blocks it with his other sword and with a flick of his wrists disarms me.  
'Dead', he tells me happily and smiles. The smug bastard. 'You are getting faster though.'  
Yeah baby. Take that. I grin, then pick up my swords again. 'This time I will beat you', I tell him and give him my best intimidating glare, which is not very intimidating.  
He laughs. 'I'd like to see you try.'  
He charges and I sidestep him easily. Dwarves are strong and some can be fast, but they are not nimble. And Fili, though less reckless than Kili, is still pretty impulsive. If I can draw him into charging and keep away from a direct clash, I may have a chance at getting him from behind or something. I take care to keep just outside his range, even though that means I also can't get to him. If I hold on long enough, I will get a chance. I dodge him for a few moments longer and I start to believe I may actually have a chance this time, until I misstep and stumble over a loose rock. Fili bursts out laughing and I can't blame him, since I also have the urge to laugh at myself.  
'That may just have been the most anticlimactic way to die ever.'  
I let my head fall back against the hard ground and let out a deep sigh. Fili chuckles and sits down next to me.  
'Are you tired?' I look up at him but don't move from my spot.  
'Adrenaline's still running, but I'll probably be sore tomorrow.' I wince as I remember the several bruises I got during the training. I can also feel the cold from the ground seeping through my skin and with another sigh I pull myself upright. Now I can see the camp and most of the dwarves. Not far from us Mary is training with Kili. Since she is not really the fighter type and not that strong Kili is teaching her how to use a bow. From what I can see, she's actually doing pretty okay, considering how a bow is quite hard to master, she hurt her arm some days ago and this is her first day –as far as I know-. I notice Ori watching them as well, holding his journal and from the looks of it sketching something. It makes me smile, seeing that there actually are dwarves who draw and write. Of course I knew that their culture was pretty refined, but I expected it to be more directed at craftsmanship of metal, not drawing. It was a pleasant surprise when I first found out. I can't see Nori and Bofur anywhere, so I assume they are watching the horses, or scouting the area. I was sort of paying attention to something else this afternoon, if you don't mind. I try to keep myself from looking at Dwalin, since the look on his face is just plain scary. He's taking care of his axe while making sure to keep an eye on us and apparent from his expression he's not satisfied with our progress. I glance at Thorin and suspect he's thinking something similar. I try to ignore the sharp sting I feel at that, to tell myself that I have time to improve, that it will all be fine, but as usual it doesn't work. I can almost feel the weight pushing me down and I splay my hands on the ground, steadying myself. I take a few deep breaths close my eyes for a moment. Just man the fuck up. You don't have to care about other people's opinions. Let it push you down and you'll definitely mess up. I push myself to my feet and force a smile as I turn around to look at Fili.  
'Ready for another round?'

* * *

_Mary's PoV_

"He wasn't always like this." Kili's voice sounds bitter. "He used to read us books. Tell us stories of Erebor. He was my hero. He saved our people. I used to tell people that when I grew up, I wanted to be like my uncle. Then people started dying. He took care of me and Fili. But his love was gone. But all he wanted was to get everybody back. To get Erebor back. Don't get me wrong, I still love him. I am forever grateful that he raised me and Fili, but he's changed. He's no longer the man who braided my hair for the first time."  
"Offcourse he is." I tell him. "It's only natural he misses his family. His home. Look."  
I take of my jacket (the sleeve is mended, but looks rather awful since we only had yellow thread) and show him the scars on my arm. They are plentiful, since I have climbed a lot. Between them are a whole variety of bruises, decorating my arm like it's a birthday party.  
"I would not even think of getting these on a mission with people that don't know how to love. You know that. He still loves you, but he's terrified he will lose you. Which is logical. He's afraid to love again. Even to himself." I sigh.  
"You shouldn't be doing anything like this. Not for someone who treats you like Thorin does."  
"Know what? I shouldn't even be arguing with you. It's not like anybody here will listen. It's like you all shut off your feelings. Grow some balls. Rose and I are supposed to be respectfull, as is Bilbo for that matter, and you can just go on like this? I thought dwarves were, what did you call it again, sophisticated? Have some respect for each other. We've all been through a lot."  
With that I get up and stride back to camp. I'm held back, though, by a hand clenching tightly around my arm. Great. That'll be another bruise to add to the collection. A tear falls from my eye from pure desperation.  
"Why are you telling me this?" Kili shows a mixture of I-want-to-kill-you-right-now, you're-actually-sort-of-right and just-shut-the-fuck-up.  
"Because of all of you, you were the only one I expect things of. Because I know how important it is to see things clearly when you're judged no matter what you do. Because you have an awesome voice and I never want you to stop talking." Congratulations, Mary, for making no sense whatsoever once again.  
"You're shouting at me because of my voice." Kili now looks plain amused.  
"Shut your piehole." I break down in tears for no reason at all. Kili pulls me close and pats my back while I cry my heart out.  
This, ladies and gentlemen, is why I should never be allowed to talk ever again.

* * *

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